Charges: health savings accounts: electricity.

Assembly Member DeMaio's comprehensive utility and tax reform legislation aims to restructure California's electrical rate system while expanding health savings account tax benefits. The bill eliminates existing fixed charges for residential utility customers and modifies key energy assistance programs, including the California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) program that provides discounts to low-income households.

The legislation maintains CARE program discounts between 30-35% for eligible customers while streamlining enrollment through coordination with other public assistance programs. It also revises net energy metering policies by requiring the Public Utilities Commission to develop standardized contracts for customer-generators with renewable energy systems, with specific provisions to promote adoption in disadvantaged communities.

For tax years 2026 through 2030, the bill aligns California's treatment of health savings accounts with federal law, allowing taxpayers to deduct HSA contributions when calculating adjusted gross income. The measure modifies reporting requirements for HSA providers, shifting oversight responsibilities to California's Franchise Tax Board while maintaining federal conformity on key provisions like rollovers from other medical savings accounts.

The California Solar Initiative would see several adjustments under the bill, including revised incentive structures tied to actual electrical output and specific funding allocations for research and demonstration projects. Total program costs remain capped at $3.55 billion, with protections to prevent cost recovery from CARE program participants except through existing system benefit charges.